Find a lost phone

Content provided by Microsoft

Applies to: Windows Phone 8.1

Select Product Version

It's nerve-wracking when you can't find your phone. Whether it's truly lost, or just stuck between the sofa cushions, Find My Phone can help lay your worry to rest. This free service on account.microsoft.com/devices can ring, lock, erase, or show your Windows Phone on a map.

To sign in to Find My Phone for the first time

The first time you use Find My Phone, make sure you've already signed in on your phone using your Microsoft account.

To ring or lock your phone

Choose the phone you want to ring or lock, and then click Find My Phone.

Do one of the following:

To make your phone ring, click Ring and then follow the instructions. It will ring even if the volume is off or set to vibrate.

To lock your phone and show a message on the lock screen, click Lock, and then follow the instructions. If you don't already have a password set up on your phone, you'll need to enter one; you'll use it to unlock the phone if you get it back.

To erase your phone

If you're certain you can't get your phone back, or if you have sensitive information on it that you want to protect until you recover it, you can erase your phone remotely.

It's a good idea to let your mobile operator know that you've lost your phone. If you have credit cards on your lost phone, contact your bank to report them as lost.

To change settings for Find My Phone

Set up Find My Phone to save your location every few hours so it's easier to locate your phone, or to use push notifications instead of text messages to send commands (and apps) to your phone faster and more cheaply. You'll change these settings on your phone, not on your computer.

In the App list, tap Settings

, and then tap Find my phone.

Select either of the following check boxes:

Always use push notifications (not SMS) to send commands and apps to my phone. The Find My Phone service and the Windows Phone Store on the web use text messaging to send commands and apps to your phone. Check this option to use push notifications instead. Why? Push notifications can be faster than text messages, and if your mobile operator charges you for each incoming text message, push notifications might also be cheaper. Also, Find My Phone can only send 15 text messages to your phone in a three-day period. With push notifications, there's no limit.

Save my phone's location periodically and before the battery runs out to make it easier to find. Find My Phone can save your phone's location details every few hours so that if your phone is out of range or the battery dies, your phone's last known location will still be on a map.

Reset Protection

Some newer Windows Phones can use Reset Protection, a free service on account.microsoft.com that provides an extra layer of protection so that if your phone ends up in the wrong hands, it can't be easily reset or reused.